Ignite Pt 1: The Becoming
by HolyOrdersOtaku
Summary: Nik Stoll was studying temporal magic when he accidentally caused a cascade of temporal energy, rewriting much of the Multiverse's history. Lana Stran became a planeswalker after her home was destroyed, and now she doubts that she'll ever be worthy to protect anything or anyone. These tales and more culminate into the start of a quest to right many wrongs. Ignite! T for Language.
1. 1-1: The Start of it All

1: The Start of it All

 _Nik Stoll I_

Nik's blue robes billowed behind him as he rushed down the long corridors of his private research tower, making his way to the nearest door to the outside world. Seemingly hours ago he was in the middle of an experiment that he'd been tinkering with for weeks; temporal mastery. His memory flashed to the incident where something had gone wrong...or worse, had gone right.

 _His hands held steady as he channeled the blue tendrils of mana, carefully sculpting them to his will and putting them to purpose. Tonight he would succeed, and he'd go backwards in time a few moments just to prove that he could. That was his way. He'd study a new form of magic just to try it once and then he would rarely revisit the same spell twice._

 _He felt a sort of "twitch", as though the mana had fluctuated somehow. He brushed it off initially, thinking it to be his imagination, when it happened again. Curious, he began to focus his mind on the mana to understand what it was doing. Suddenly, the blue mana in his palms erupted into a blinding light, and the resulting shockwave knocked him prone. His energy faded, and he fell unconscious for a time._

When he came to, everything seemed to be exactly as he'd left it. This was worrisome. He had no way to tell for sure what the rebounded spell had done, _if_ it had done anything. He held no religious belief, but for the first time he prayed that no effect had taken hold due to the misfired spell. Time alteration, admittedly, was a dangerous undertaking; one he planned to meddle very little with.

Before him and closing in fast was a door to a balcony. Without pausing, he shoved the doors open and stepped into the fresh Dominarian air. There was a nearby village that he could see, and off in the distance he could make out the edges of Llanowar. He breathed a sigh of relief; the terrain was exactly the same as he was accustomed to. "Nothing's wrong," he whispered to himself. The rebounded spell had done nothing.

The sound of slow, cautious footsteps from behind caught his attention. _Must be Nara,_ he thought, his mind going to his young apprentice who, like himself, was a planeswalker. _She must be worried. I made quite the ruckus._ He turned to face her. "I'm sorry about the noise. I...I..." he hesitated; Nara wasn't standing before him.

Instead of the short blonde hair and green eyes of his dutiful assistant, he instead saw the shaggy brown hair and grey eyes of a complete stranger. The _boy_ before him wore similar robes, implying that he was his apprentice, but Nik knew not who he was. The boy gave Nik a look of concern. "Everything okay, sir?"

"How did you get in here?" Nik shot without hesitation.

"Sir?"

"Who are you?" Nik asked.

"Sir, don't you recognize me? It's me, Cenna. Your assistant."

"Nara is my assistant."

"Who?"

"Young planeswalker," he explained before he realized what he'd said. The common person doesn't know about the planeswalkers. He shook his head, mentally chastising himself.

Cenna gave Nik a sad smile. "Well, I'd bet that'd be better for you than me. I'm no planeswalker. I'm stuck on Dominaria for all my life. You took me in because you thought I had a latent spark, remember?"

Nik shook his head. That can't be right. No, no, that can't be right at all. Nara. Nara has _always_ been my assistant. I don't know you, boy. I never have."

Cenna looked concerned as Nik spoke, but a sudden excited spark lit up his eyes. "I know! I know! Oh, I get it!"

"Get what, boy?" Nik asked, but he had his own suspicions. _Please, don't be what I think this is._

"You succeeded! You used temporal magic!"

Nik sighed as he stared at the floor. "That's what I was afraid of."

"But sir, you've been trying to use temporal magic for years! You've finally done it."

"I only ever wanted to observe. Never alter. If this much is different, what else have I changed." He turned to Cenna. "So, you know about planeswalkers?" Cenna nodded. "Have I ever had _guests_? Other planeswalkers?"

"Yes, sir. Most of them you deal with on the rarest of occasions, but there are a couple that you treat as colleagues."

"Is Jace Beleren one such colleague?"

Cenna shook his head. "No. I've never met a Jace Beleren. I know of only three planeswalkers you've ever had regula dealings with."

"What are their names?"

"Karra Ran. She's a blue mage who, like you, has been seeking a potential spark to be her apprentice. Her apprentice, Teri Kol, was in fact an unsparked planeswalker. She ignited and fled not too long ago. Varen Fade is a planeswalker associated with the Izzet League on Ravnica. You deal with him when you need new equipment. And Tebin Agpan. I know the least about him. All I know is that you despise working with him, but will if and when you have to."

"I don't know any of them," Nik stated. _Jace, Sorin, Ugin...they don't exist here do they?_ "I must go. I need to see what the damage is."

Cenna nodded. "Where will you go?" he asked, a scroll and quill in hand ready to write. "You usually have me keep a record of your comings and goings."

Nik chuckled. "I had Nara do much the same. I suppose I'll start with Innistrad. Surely Sorin was still made into a vampire in this timeline. Sparked or not, he should still be alive. I'll seek him out first."

"Will you be needing anything while you are gone?" Cenna asked.

Nik stared at him for a moment before a gentle smile crossed his lips. "You're a good lad, you know that? Yes. Study everything I have on temporal magic. Study and catalogue your findings, but do _not_ attempt to use the magic."

Cenna nodded. "Yes, sir."

"I'll be back as quick as I can. If memory serves correctly, trouble tends to fall into the laps of planeswalkers who journey away from home. Let's pray that it is not true." He turned and began to walk away. The air around Nik rippled and burned, and Nik's body blurred out of reality as though he wasn't there to begin with.

* * *

 **Author's Note**

Ah, to be writing again. Its quite nice. Hello, friends! Long time no see. Unless I'm completely new to you because you've come looking for _Magic: the Gathering_ fics, in which case its a pleasure to meet you! I hope you enjoy! For all of my RWBY readers, allow me to explain (and apologize). My writing tends to force me to take breaks from projects that I've worked on for too long. My **_Shifting Remnant_** **_AU_** , as well as _Witch Hunter Ruby_ have taken way too long for me to write, and as such my brain simply can't fathom them for now. Tis a temporary ailment, I assure you, but an ailment it is. I do not know when I will return to my RWBY roots, but in the meantime, let me show you what I've done to pass the time in the past several months.

While I may not have been doing RWBY stories, I have been working on this _Magic_ project for quite some time. You see, I would use _Magic Set Editor_ to mock up my own card designs for fun. I'd never invest in it for too long, as it was just a hobby to pass the time every so often. A couple of months ago, however, I began to piece together my broken sets into a cohesive story. What if there was an alternate timeline in _Magic: the Gathering,_ and someone needed to fix this breach in the timelines? I have just the cast of characters to do that! Wait! What if I took my fanfic of an Innistrad story, and put it into this alternate timeline? A timeline where Avacyn doesn't go crazy and die for example? I like it~!

And, to show just how long I've been doing this (though only in segments for the first year), I'm breaking this story into "sets" and "blocks", starting with this first part. Part 1: The Becoming is like a CoreSet. Not a traditional one, as I won't go through all of my mono colored Planeswalkers. In fact, I'm telling these stories as a sort of "as they happen" sort of way. I expect The Becoming to be about 5-8 chapters long. Originally I was just going to release them all in the same story, but seeing as how I have the whole story planned out start to finish, I feel as though the length will be too ridiculous. And you've read _The Longest Night_ or _Eternity Rising_ , then you know how long my stories can get. This will be longer, I promise.

Side note: my updated Profile Picture is the set symbol I designed for all of Ignite! The cover art for _The Becoming_ is the set symbol for this story specifically. :D

So, I hope you all like this story, and I am sorry for further postponing my RWBY work.

Till Next Time! :D

Fun Fact: Show of hands, how many of you read my **_Shifting Remnant AU_**? If you read either _The Longest Night_ or _Eternity Rising_ then you might recognize our Planeswalker here. Nik Stoll is back! He's kind of my go to magic user. He's in a lot of my stories, be they original or fanfiction.


	2. 1-2: Guard of High March

2: Guard of High March

Lana Stran I

"D

o you, Lana Stran, swear to the peoples of the March to serve loyally? Swear to stand with death bearing down upon you, and with the spear to thy throat? Do you swear to man the walls in times of need, and to march to war in times of peril?" asked the old, wizened General Grol. His pristine, silver and steel armor shone brilliantly in the morning sun, and his neatly kept salt and pepper hair framed his face handsomely, though his hairline was receding.

Sitting on one knee before Grol was Lana Stran, the young woman who showed up on High March's doors half dead roughly three years ago. Lana remembered the day well. It was the day that she became what she is now; what the General would never find out. "This I swear," she answered with a slight smile on her lips.

Grol drew his steel long sword and rested the tip of the blade carefully on her shoulder. "Then rise, Lana Stran, Knight of the March! May your service be long and prestigious!"

Lana stood and gave the old man a smile before turning around. Two servants approached from behind and mounted a white cape onto her back with the insignia of High March. She drew her own blade and raised it to the air. "For the people!" She shouted.

Standing in attendance before her was a large repertoire of the High March guard, all of whom were garbed in steel armor and white capes. They all drew their own blades and shouted as one, "For the people!" The chant was loud, proud, and delightfully repetitive. "For the people! For the people!" The sight of all of them accepting her as one of the guard made her smile, and she felt the desire to happily cry welling up from within. Her pride wouldn't allow her to cry in front of her shield mates, however, so she resigned to smiling and laughing instead.

She scanned over the faces of all of them until her eyes spotted who she was looking for; Rin Excel stood at attention with her hands on her hips, smiling happily at Lana. Her black hair was pulled into a short ponytail at the back while her bangs hung shaggily above her blue eyes. Her breastplate was form fitted to match her seemingly petite and fragile frame, but beneath was the blood and muscle that had won many a fight in the past, and in place of breaches she wore an armored skirt.

She crossed her arms and smiled at Lana for a while longer before she motioned to the door with her head; _I'll see you in private_ , her gesture said. Lana nodded and sheathed her blade, stepping down from the dais and entering the crowd of her fellow knights. She received numerous handshakes and slaps on the shoulder, as well as dozens of congratulations. All the while, Rin snuck out and avoided the chaos, giving Lana one last pride filled glance.

Lana was enjoying herself to be sure, but Rin wasn't fond of large social gatherings outside of battle, and Lana wanted to spend the rest of her day with the woman that had saved her life all those years ago.

* * *

 _Three Years Ago_

Lana's body was badly broken and wounded. The battle for Credis was hard fought by her comrades and herself, but in the end the enemy had overpowered them. The Derilians washed over the city like a plague and wiped out all of her friends and family. Even her childhood friend Mika was slain by the devilish Derilians.

The moment she saw the towers fall was the moment that it happened; power surged through her core, she could feel her eyes burning inside of her skull, and the ground fell away beneath her as she tumbled through a rainbow chasm that was brighter than the sun. When the tumbling stopped and she landed on solid ground, she could barely move a limb. The power had subsided, and the smell of smoke and blood left her nostrils and was replaced by the smells of grass, trees, and polished stone.

Her eyes were barely open, and she could scarcely make out the shape of a stone structure. A young woman wearing the garb of a soldier stared at her blankly. She rushed over to Lana and knelt down to inspect her. "What happened?" she asked in a hushed whisper. "Was that your first walk?"

 _Walk?_ Lana thought for the briefest of moments. Her confusion was washed away by the feeling of tiredness that came with her wounds and blood loss. "Please..." was all she managed to say.

The woman nodded. "I need a cleric! Someone bring me a cleric!" She scooped Lana up bridal style in one single motion and she began to run through the halls of the stone building. "Cleric!" she shouted.

"What happened?" came the voice of another.

"I don't know. She staggered onto the grounds and collapsed in front of the door. She's severely wounded. She needs..."

Lana could barely hear the words of the woman anymore. Sleep came and she was sure that she'd never wake again.

When Lana woke, she was lying on her back on a solid white bed. The sheets and comforters were pristine and clean, and the pillow was exquisitely soft. Her armor had been stripped from her, replaced instead by a silk gown. She could feel the bandages that wrapped around her breasts, covering the massive hole that had been stabbed into her chest. Rising slowly, she began to inspect herself to ensure that she still had all of her limbs.

 _Arms...Fingers...Feet...Toes...Ears..._ One by one she checked her own body and breathed a sigh of relief. _I'm okay_ , she thought. She looked around, inspecting her surroundings. The bed was nestled up against a wall to the left with a window, and on the right was a wooden bedside table with a full glass of water. White, smooth curtains flowed gently from the window, pushed by an easy breeze from the outside fields. The battlefield of Credis was nowhere to be seen. It looked as though this place hadn't seen war in hundreds of years, in fact.

"Where am I?" she said aloud.

The wooden door to her right opened, and in came that same woman from before. "Oh," she said with a gentle smile. "You're awake. Good. I hope you're hungry. I brought you some porridge. I know it's not much, but it's the best I can do." He her hands was a wooden tray with a wooden bowl and metal spoon.

The smell of porridge wafted its way from the bowl and into Lana's nose. Her stomach grumbled; she felt that she hadn't eaten in days. "Th-thank you."

The woman set the tray down on the wooden table next to Lana's bed before she grabbed a nearby chair and sat down beside her. "I hope you don't mind some company. I'm sure you've got a few questions as well."

Lana nodded. "Who are you?"

"That's a good one to start with. My name is Rin Excel. I'm a soldier in the service of High March."

Lana raised a confused eyebrow. "High March?"

Rin chuckled nervously. "That one is going to be harder to explain. Tell me, what's the name of this plane?"

Lana was once more confused. "Sirius. This plane is Sirius."

Rin shook her head with a serious look on her face. "I'm afraid you're not on Sirius anymore. I suppose I should formally welcome you to Tollan."

"Tollan?"

"What's the last thing you remember? What happened on Sirius?"

"I...I was fighting with my comrades to protect Credis from the Derilian army. The Derilians overpowered us and destroyed my platoon. Mika died in my arms and...and siege engines and catapults tore down the city spires. Credis..."Lana began to cry. "Credis fell."

"I'm sorry," Rin said. "What happened next?"

"The tower that my family lived in...it fell. When it fell, I felt something inside me ignite. Like a fire. Power surged through my bones and the ground fell away. The next thing I remember is waking up on the ground where you found me."

Rin nodded. "You're a planeswalker."

"A planeswalker?"

"Some people... _some,_ not all, are born with a latent spark. In times of extreme trauma and stress, the spark will ignite and send that person tumbling through the Blind Eternities, the space _between_ space. Once they awaken from the first _walk_ , they have the ability to planeswalk at will. So, you can do that now. You can go anywhere you want."

Lana stared at Rin in amazement. "How...how can that be?"

"I know because I am also a planeswalker." She smiled. "I'm not from Tollan. I'm from a place called Alara. Bant, to be precise. Like you, there was a battle. Many of my friends died. What ultimately ignited my spark was when a Nayan soldier tried to take my head. He would have succeeded, but my spark saved me and sent me to Mirrodin. I traveled around for a year or so before I found this place. It reminds me the most of home, so I stayed."

"Can we not return to our home plane?" Lana asked.

"We can. I chose not to. Too much pain in that memory. You...you understand, I'm sure." Lana stared silently into nothingness. "You should eat your porridge before it gets cold," Rin reminded her.

Lana nodded. "Thank you for saving me. I owe you a debt." She picked up the bowl and began to eat.

"What's your name?" Rin asked.

She swallowed her food and sat silent for a moment. "Lana Stran."

Rin held out her hand. "Nice to meet you, Lana."

Lana accepted the hand and shook it. "Likewise."

* * *

 _Present Day_

Lana finally wormed her way out of the crowd and slowly made her way to where she knew Rin would be. A hundred yards to the east of the Citadel was a small grove. This was the grove where Lana spent much of her recovery three years ago. In her spare time, Rin had shown it to her, and it became their private sanctuary. It was where they had become the closest of friends, and the strongest of allies. It was also the place where Lana decided to make Tollan her new home.

Rin lay beneath the shade of her favorite cherry tree, the pink blossoms coming into bloom above her. She'd taken off the majority of her armor: the form fitted breastplate was a few feet away from her on the ground, her gauntlets were strewn across the forest bed, and her armored boots were tossed carelessly aside.

She lay with her legs lazily crossed, her bare feet resting upon a tree root casually as she wiggled her toes in a sort of restless way; even at rest, a part of her body was always in motion. The armor plates of her blue skirt had been removed, and her grey undershirt was wrinkled from where she'd clearly been napping on the forest floor. Her eyes were closed, but Lana suspected that she wasn't really asleep.

Her suspicions were confirmed as she slowly approached Rin, and the raven haired woman said, in a very casual and coy voice, "I _know_ you're not joining me with your armor on."

Lana smiled to herself before she unfastened the belt of her sword scabbard and dropped it to the ground with a metallic rattle. Piece by piece she unfastened and removed her armor until she was wearing only her brown leather breeches and her grey undershirt that matched Rin's. Feeling the grass between her toes, she closed the distance until she dropped the ground and lay beside Rin. "Hey," she said.

"Hey," Rin replied with a smile, opening her blue eyes to look into Lana's brown irises. Their faces were mere inches apart, close enough that their noses almost touched. "You did it. You're a Knight of the March now."

"Couldn't have done it without you, Rin."

Rin gave a mock expression of thoughtful pondering before she nodded exaggeratedly. "I know. You'd be lost without me," she teased.

Lana giggled. "Now, I was unaware that the _great_ Rin Excel was capable of having an ego."

"The biggest ego in the south."

"I don't doubt that."

"You love it."

"I don't know if I love the ego," Lana admitted. "But I love the woman it's attached to."

"Aww, you do care." Rin leaned forward and kissed Lana's lips gently, smiling as she pulled away.

Lana and Rin turned to look into the blue sky above through the trees, basking in each other's company. "I've been thinking lately, Rin."

"Hm?"

"I still feel like Credis could have been prevented."

"Lana," Rin said gently. "We've talked about this. There wasn't anything you could have done to change how that battle went."

"I know. But I feel as though there must have been _something_ I could have done." She pointed at the cloak that was hanging from a tree limb just a few feet away. "Look at that. That's the _second_ time I've been knighted. I failed my first oath: _To uphold the law of Credis, and to defend its walls or die trying._ I failed to protect Credis. I failed to die in the service of fighting for Credis. What if I fail the oath I made to the March?"

"You won't," Rin promised. "You're stronger. You're a _planeswalker_ now. You control magic that no normal knight could hope to wield. Between the two of us, the March will stand forever."

Lana nodded. "I don't understand," she whispered. "I don't understand what it means to be a knight. I thought I did once, but now? I don't think I do."

Rin sat upright and looked down at Lana on the ground. "What are you thinking about?"

Lana sighed. "I think I should leave."

"After being _knighted_?!" Rin exclaimed.

"Not for good," Lana quickly added. "Just for a while. Aside from our brief adventures to Zendikar and Mirroden, I've not really traveled the Multiverse. There _has_ to be a plane out there I can visit that can give me some answers."

Rin nodded. "I understand. Damn it, I wish I didn't, but I do understand. I did the same thing when I first sparked."

"Then you know-"

"That you have to do this alone? Yeah. I know that too. I hate it. I really do. But...I want you to be happy. If you feel that you need to find yourself, then I won't stop you, nor will I hold you back by going with you." She sighed. "That doesn't mean I have to like it."

Lana raised up from her laying position. "I'll be back as quick as I can. I promise." She planted a gentle kiss onto Rin's lips.

"I'll hold you to it," Rin stated. She looked at Lana, the ground, and her bits of armor that were strewn about. A coy smile spread across Rin's lips. "You don't have to leave just _yet_ , though."

Lana smiled. "No. No I don't."

* * *

 **Author's Note**

Chapter 2 is up. I actually have a lot of these done already. I'm just going to take my time to post them. I'm in no rush. I may finish all 10 some odd parts before I ever finished posting _The Becoming._ After _The Becoming_ is done, we'll go to Innistrad in _Innistrad in Pain_. I rather enjoy it. :D

Till next time!


	3. 1-3: The Umbranox Conclave

3:The Umbranox Conclave

Tebin Agpan I

Tebin strolled down the halls of the Umbranox with his arms folded neatly behind his back, standing as straight as possible in the process. He was intimidating to look at, as he was on average a head taller than everyone else in the Conclave, and he used his frightening stature to his advantage. He even used anonymity as a weapon of intimidation. His black robes with green and yellow trim covered his body from head to toe, with a matching hooded cloak that covered his head. To add to his mysterious air, he added a small face mask that covered up to the bridge of his nose, and he constantly used a stream of mana to enchant his eyes to glow a dark purple so none could recognize him if he were to remove the mask and hood.

None would know it, but he smiled underneath the mask. _Today is the day._ He marched confidently down the halls until he reached two large doors. Two black armored guards stood on either side, extending their pikes to bar his passage. "What is your business?" they asked. They knew who he was, and they knew they'd be letting him in, but this was a formal tradition for every assembled Conclave.

"I am Tebin Agpan of the Seventy-Second Conclave, come bearing word of council and caution," he said, giving the customary response.

"Enter, Tebin Agpan. May your council aid the Conclave," the guards said as one, removing their pikes from his path as the door magically opened. He nodded a silent yet polite thanks and crossed the threshold. Inside was a large, vaulted ceiling that stretched several hundred feet up. The room was large enough for three hundred people, yet there sat only a single hexagonal stone table with twelve seats; two per side of the table.

Tebin noted that the other eleven elected Conclave members were already present and waiting for his arrival. He didn't care that he'd made them wait. Today wasn't about them. He approached slowly and paused behind the lone, vacant chair. "My apologies for my tardiness," he said in his deep, low voice."

"Not at all," said a woman with graying hair. He hadn't bothered to remember their names. It would be pointless to do so, in his mind. "Now that you are here, we can begin." The other ten nodded and stood.

As with one voice, the twelve of them spoke aloud the formal starting statement to the Umbranox Conclave. "Of our minds and our bodies, let our council be heard. be ever thoughtful and cautious. Aspire to be great, yet avoid hubris. We are the Umbranox; here we council."

"Here we council," they all repeated, and the door locked so that no outsider may interrupt them. They all took their seats, and a neatly bearded man spoke first. "Firstly, I'd like to speak of an alarming matter. I've heard some dreadful rumors that there is a planeswalker somewhere on Scelus."

A couple of the lesser informed members gasped, while the ones who'd already heard the rumors nodded. "I've heard it as well," said a younger man, who to Tebin could be no older than twenty. "How did they get past our net?"

"I suspect that they were born on Scelus," answered an elderly woman. "Those with Scelus's _scent_ can pass through the net undetected. There's no way to detect a planeswalker that's _from_ our very home."

"Is there nothing we can do?" another woman asked.

"There is only one thing we can do," a short, dwarf of a man said. "We must seek out this planeswalker and eliminate him."

"Agreed," the young man said. "What devastation could he create if he were to tell everyone that there are other worlds out there? Some of them more powerful than us, no doubt."

"The faith in the Umbranox would shatter," the elderly woman said.

"Then we are in agreement?" the first man asked.

Ten people said "Aye" as with one voice. Tebin remained stoic and silent.

"Tebin?" the first man said inquisitively. "What say you?"

"Nay," he said as he stood. "There is no need to seek out this planeswalker. He will seek us out."

"How can you be so certain?" the young man asked.

Tebin, straight faced as he could be behind the mask, looked deep into the young man's eyes with his glowing orbs. "Because _I_ am the planeswalker."

The whole chamber gasped. "Guards!" the first man shouted as he stood.

"It's no use...Jaral? Was that your name? When we started the council, I enchanted the room so that none may hear us, not even the guards."

"How did you, a filthy _planeswalker_ infiltrate this Conclave?"

"Simple...I rigged it. I've been to many worlds. I've studied more magic than you've ever heard of. It was a simple task to allow myself to win the Conclave Election."

"For what purpose?"

He smiled behind the mask. "To control it. Once I eliminate you, I will absorb your Conclave Rights and rewrite the law, granting me full control over the Umbranox."

"The Umbranox will never allow this!" the elderly woman shouted.

Tebin took a small step away from the table, raising his right hand to be level with his chest while his left rested behind his back. "It already has allowed it." A purple cloud of magic pooled into his right hand. The eleven other Conclave members stood to arm their own magics, but Tebin closed his fist on the cloud of black mana, causing a wave of magic to explode throughout the room. Eleven bodies turned to dust and ash in an instant, leaving Tebin alone with the table and the silence.

He walked around the table and touched it carefully. The center opened, and a small orb shaped artifact hovered out of the hole; the Umbranox itself. It reached into his mind and whispered devilishly. _What do you want?_

"I am Tebin Agpan. I control the Umbranox."

"Tebin Agpan controls the Umbranox," Echoed throughout the building, and Tebin smiled. He snapped his fingers and the doors unlocked.

Moments later, the two guards charged into the chamber with their pikes ready. Tebin turned to face them, the Umbranox floating just behind him. "We have work to do," he said with authority seeping into his voice.

The guards couldn't resist, and knelt before Tebin as the power of the artifact washed over them. "What are our orders?"

He smiled. "I need an obelisk."

* * *

 **Author's Note**

One of my villains has been introduced. Reminder: The Becoming is like a CoreSet, so there are many things happening at once that aren't directly related to each other. I hope you enjoy it. Please, leave a review or a PM to let me know. :D


	4. 1-4: The Frost Mage

4: The Frost Mage

 _Teri Kol I_

She had Ignited some months ago, yet even with the power to traverse the Multiverse she felt as though she were still on the run from her instructor. Teri Kol found herself on the plane of Cristalis, which was currently in the midst of an ice age. She rather enjoyed the cold of the land, as that was her specialty, and it would make her pursuers have a difficult time of hunting for her. She didn't know what was here that her teacher, Karra Ran, didn't want her to find, but she wasn't leaving until she found it.

The plane's ice age was something fierce it seemed. All around her were the frozen corpses of animals and people who couldn't find shelter before the cold had gotten to them. Teri, to her credit, wore the bare minimum of clothes at all times. She loved the cold on her torso, so her sleeveless vest was cut short to bare her abdomen. Her arms were dark skinned and unadorned, her breaches ended halfway down her shins, and while she preferred to go barefoot, she settled for a pair of black leather boots; rocks tend to slice into one's soles. Not a single shiver rocked her body. This was her Summer.

Using her frost based magic, she traversed the snowscape effortlessly, lighting stepping on top of the four foot thick snow hills as though they were solid ground. She paused at the peak of a hill and her eyes went wide in amazement. There, only a couple of miles away, was a massive structure made of stone and ice. It had clearly been neglected for some centuries, and was likely abandoned at the beginning of the ice age. She smiled. "Home sweet home," she mumbled under her breath."

The wind picked up, and she could hear the faint sound of whisperings being carried by the breeze. She turned and could see a pair of shadows in the distance, obscured by a snowy haze. _Trackers_ , she thought to herself. Steeling herself, she picked up the pace and headed towards to ruin.

Silence had never been louder. Every footstep echoed off of the frozen walls, her reflection stared back at her from the ice on the walls, and iron sconces were all covered in thick ice when they should have been lit and ablaze. She loved it here already. _I don't know what I'm looking for, but I'll be comfortable here for quite a while. I won't be leaving anytime soon,_ she thought to herself. She started to delve deeper into the structure, but remembered the Trackers that were behind her.

She spat and cursed under her breath. If there were Trackers, that meant that Karra knew where she was, and that she'd be interrupted for as long as she stayed here. _Damn you, Karra. Leave me be._

Pausing only for a moment, she removed her leather boots and let her dark skinned feet touch the frozen floor unprotected. The feeling of the cold on her toes was enjoyable enough to her by itself, but now she could move silently without her boots causing an echo. She ran up a flight of stone stares, hid her boots behind a set of chairs and tables, and returned to the entry hall to find the perfect perch. She climbed into a window frame, hiding behind a curtain that was partially torn from age, and there she waited.

She didn't wait long.

The Trackers entered in mere minutes. There were two of them, though Teri couldn't ascertain any of their traits due to their thick attire. "Look at this!" the one of the left, a woman, shouted. "It hasn't been touched in hundreds of years!"

"We're sure to find something here," the one on the right, a man, said in response.

"I don't see how you can be so optimistic, Phel. Every ruin we've checked so far has been a dead end."

The man, Phel, chuckled. "I have to be optimistic, Kili. It's how I get through my day."

 _Maybe they aren't Trackers,_ Teri thought. She smiled. _That means Karra doesn't know where I am!_ She held back a fit of laughter and listened to the pair of explorers even longer.

"If it's here, then maybe we can undo this damned ice age," Phel said.

The woman, Kili, sighed. "The Staff of Lunn can't be real, Phel. How can one artifact cause an entire ice age? It just isn't possible."

 _That's what's here!_ Teri chimed mentally. _A staff that can create this world of ice!_ Her smile widened. She'd have complete power over worlds with such a relic.

"We don't know that for sure," Phel replied. "It could be real. This ice age has lasted for over two thousand years. Surely the stories of the warmth of the sun are true."

"Those are just fairy tales. A world without snow? That can't have possibly existed either."

"Why are you so pessimistic?"

"Why are you so optimistic?"

"Why don't you both shut up," Teri shouted from the window, taking the pair of them by surprise. Flinging the curtain aside, she leapt down from the high window and pointed her hands at the two explorers. Bolts of ice shot from her fingertips, catching them both by surprise. Before they could dodge, the ice hit them and covered them head to toe in solid ice. Teri landed gently on her feet and slowly strode towards them. She looked them both up and down and smiled; they were in a frozen sleep.

She turned away and explored for an hour before she found a large study that she claimed as her personal room. There she took the two frozen explorers. After another hour of setting up a bedroll and getting a fire started for her dinner, she approached the pair and stopped in from of Kili. With a wave of her hand, the ice around the woman's face melted and she gasped as she woke up. "What!?"

"Hush," Teri said darkly. "Tell me about this Staff of Lunn."

"Who are you?" Kili asked.

"I said, tell me about the Staff of Lunn."

"Why do you want to know?"

"You're not in a position to be _knowing_ why I do anything, Kili. Tell me about the Staff." Kili looked around with her eyes, as her head wasn't able to move in the ice. Teri sighed. She raised her right hand and created a large, razor sharp ice spike. "Tell me, or I kill _him_." She pointed the spike at Phel, melting the ice above his heart in the process. "I don't make empty threats, Kili."

Kili's eyes went wide as she processed the information. Teri nodded once and made to stab Phel. "Wait!" Kili shouted. "Don't hurt him! Please! I'll tell you everything I know."

Teri smiled. "Go on then. Tell me."


	5. 1-5: Politics

5: Politics

 _Varen Fade I_

Varen Fade stood silently as he watched his fellow representatives file into the Chamber of the Guildpact. For two hundred years the city of Ravnica had rested in a delicate peace. While Varen silently admitted that the interests of his own guild, the Izzet League, were of the ambitious sort, he knew that Niv Mizzet wanted nothing but prolonged peace for Ravnica.

But someone in this room did not feel the same way.

There were ten of them together; each one a member of one of the ten guilds, and Varen knew them all by name. There was an elvish woman clad in a sort of graceful armor; Gesaltha Thran of the Selesnya Conclave. A half naked man covered top to bottom in tattoos with a thin blade at his waste stood to Gesaltha's right; Giga Shar of the Gruul Clans. To his right was an elder man clad entirely in black leather. His hair was snow white, his beard long, and his eyes a blood red; Klak Fost of the Cult of Rakdos.

Representing the Orzhov Syndicate was a well kempt man with long, silky black hair. His name was Necroa Abar, and he had a face that rarely smiled. From the Golgari guild, the first to be seated, was a young man that many called "the Graverobber." Pholian gave them all a smile, though to Varen it seemed cruel and twisted.

From the lawmakers at the Azorious Senate, a young blonde woman named Reva Baden stood with a hand grasping a scroll tightly. She had a grave seriousness about her, and to Varen it seemed that she held everyone in suspect. For this, Varen trusted her. Next to her was the one that Varen trusted the least. A white haired young woman garbed in black and blue, her name was Serin Bein from House Dimir. An assassin by nature, her presence was why none of the others surrendered their weapons, and why Varen held onto his staff tightly.

Another woman garbed in green and blue sat silently with a small chimera resting on her lap. One of Simic's biomancers no doubt. Warren Lissa was a woman of few words who chose to simply play with her pet instead of socialize. Finally, the Boros Legion he would normally trust, in spite of their overzealousness for justice and truth. The woman garbed in red and white was named Thera Jessa. He didn't know much about her, and had only recently met her. There was a reason for this, of course.

Everyone in here, aside from Pholian, was a planeswalker. Whether or not they all knew that the others were planeswalkers he could not say, but Varen made it his personal business to identify every planeswalker on Ravnica, primarily in an effort to keep their natures a secret from the guild leaders. Should his own guild master find out that he's a planeswalker, Varen truly dreaded what the outcome could be.

"We're all here," Pholian said impatiently. "Let's get this damn assembly over with."

"Why?" Reva asked coldly. "Off to steal from a crypt?"

Pholian stood angrily. "What did you say, bitch?"

She drew her sword and pointed it at him. "Attack. I dare you. Give me a reason to rid Ravnica of you once and for all." In response, Pholian channeled necrotic energies into his palms, ready to sling deadly magic her way.

"Friends!" Varen shouted to garner their attention. "We're here to make amends for slights and wrongs in an effort to prolong this peace, not shatter it altogether." He gestured to the table. "Let us sit, and let us _talk_. Put your weapons away." He looked at Pholian. "Death magic too. Put it away." He breathed a sigh of relief when the two of them stood down and took their seats. "Thank you." He seated himself, and the remaining seven representatives followed suit.

"I think I will start, if that is okay," Necroa stated.

"Please," Varen agreed. He didn't care for Necroa, but at least he was professional.

"The Obzedat has received written threats in the past month," Necroa explained.

"What can a living being possibly threaten a council of ghosts with?" Serin asked sarcastically.

"Exorcism," Necroa said flatly. "Now, I am fully aware that the majority of Ravnica views undeath negatively, especially in the form of a ghost. But, the Guildpact recognizes the Obzedat as our guild leader. To threaten a guild leader is a crime most foul."

"The Selesnya conclave has received similar threats," Gesaltha said smoothly.

"Barring the death threats that the elves are getting," Pholian chimed in. "Who has the ability to exorcize a council of _ghosts_? I deal in undeath on a regular basis-"

"Graverobber," Reva muttered under her breath. Varen shook his head.

"-yet I've never seen how to exorcize a ghost."

"Only two things on Ravnica can do this," Warren said flatly. "The clerics of Orzhov, and the demons of Rakdos."

Everyone turned to Klak. He chuckled. "What business would we have with Orzhov? What would we have to gain from destroying the Obzedat?"

"The Obzedat? I truly have no idea," Thera said. "But with the elves? You could sacrifice them to Rakdos, could you not?"

"To be sacrificed in the name of Rakdos is an honor!" Klak shouted angrily. "To defile that honor with the blood of a _Selesnyan_ would be to insult Rakdos himself!"

"What about the blood of dragons?" Varen asked, and everyone turned to face him. "Niv Mizzet has also received death threats. Yet, we can trace no origin." He turned to Serin. "I do not wish to point fingers, but only the Dimir can perform such a perfect message delivery. Your rogues are the best in all the world."

"A beast of Gruul would be unable to track the scent of one of your ilk, Serin," Giga commented.

Serin stood violently. "How _dare_ you accuse us of this! We too have received threats from an unknown source. If it were us, we would have left clues to lead you to a guild to make you suspect each other. Instead, there aren't any clues at all!"

"You protest too much," Pholian said with a laugh.

"What of the Golgari?" Gesaltha asked. "Your zombies and liches can be made to be quite stealthy."

He spat in protest. "What of the Simic? Can you truly claim to track every chimera and homunculus?"

"It's true, we can't," Warren commented.

"Not defending your case, Warren," Varen said with a sigh.

"Oh, it's not us. But it matters little at this point. Clearly one of us is lying."

"Or," Thera said with suspicion. "One of us is being lied to by our guilds."

"Niv Mizzet would never condone such activity," Varen stated flatly.

"Jarrod would," Pholian admitted. "But, he'd gloat about it too. He couldn't keep it a secret."

Reva shouted now, saying, "The Azorious, and if I may be so bold as to speak for Thera and the Boros as well, would never commit such threatening acts."

"Wouldn't you?" Thera asked. "What about the supreme verdict of the seventeenth precinct? You murdered everyone that lived there just to level the ground and start a construction project."

"We left skyrunes warning of the eviction."

"On a cloudy day, when none could read them." Thera spat. "You make me sick."

"What about the Boros?" Giga asked. "You don't have any problems raiding the lands of Gruul."

"Only because you don't have any problems raping and pillaging," Necroa stated coldly.

The room erupted into one large argument between the guild representatives while Varen sat silently in his chair. He sighed and began to rub his temples, a headache forming. He looked up, ready to calm his fellow representatives, when he paused and noticed something odd. Everyone was standing and arguing loudly, except for Klak Fost. The old man of Rakdos sat in his chair, his fingers folded on the table in front of him with a smile on his face.

Varen felt a pang of suspicion. He didn't like to use mind magic, but in this moment he probed the edges of Klak's mind. The man did not resist, but smiled wider as he let his thoughts flow freely. Varen felt a pit form in his stomach. He stood quickly. "Everyone down!"

"For Rakdos!" Klak shouted. Red lines of magic formed across his face, burning and blistering his skin. Varen took a dive under the table right as the man exploded. The sound was deafening. There had been a sudden shout by a few of the men and women present, but now all was silent.

Varen stood slowly, thankful that he was unharmed. He saw bloody scraps of armor, flesh, and limbs where Gesaltha had been seated. Giga's body was burned to a crisp, the only identifying feature being his studded loincloth. Reva and Pholian lay on the ground nearby, Pholian lay atop her to protect her. They were injured, but alive. Klak himself had been reduced to ash.

"You okay?" Pholian asked. Reva nodded, and Pholian rolled over. His back was scorched, and Reva's face was scared badly. But, they would survive.

Thera, like Varen, had dived under the table and was mostly unharmed. Her cloak was singed, and her left hand was blistered. Warren was, like Gesaltha, in pieces. She died instantly. Necroa was leaned up against a wall, his skin burned and flaking, but he acted as though he was unhurt. He met Varen's gaze, and Varen knew that he was undead; a zombie. "I didn't want any of you to see me this way," he said under his breath. He closed his eyes and the air around him shimmered as he planeswalked away.

Varen looked for Serin and found her standing where Klack had been seated, completely unharmed. He saw a slight distortion around her body and knew that she had protected herself. She knew it was coming. "Serin," Varen said in a low voice.

She turned and approached Reva and Pholian. They were too weak to stand or resist as she pulled a dagger from her boot. "Poor Reva," she said to the Azorious woman. "You had so much left to live for." She jerked and shoved the blade into Reva's heart. Pulling the blade out, she cleaned it and turned to Pholian. "Your turn, boy."

She went to lunge, and Pholian screamed. A bright white light erupted, blinding Serin for a moment. When it died away, Pholian was gone. "Huh," she said with a slight smile. "He ignited his spark."

Varen motioned for Thera to stay hidden; Serin hadn't spotted her yet. He stood, his staff in hand, and met her gaze. "What is going on, Serin."

"Rakdos and Dimir have formed a bond, obviously. We're going to remake Ravnica in our own image. But first, we must burn away what is already there. This, of course, means the rest of you."

Varen shook his head. "You fool! Rakdos is using you! He's a demon. Demon's do _not_ share power."

"Oh, he won't have to share. We'll stab him in the back at the earliest chance." Thera silently snuck behind Serin without being detected, her sword in hand.

He laughed. "You are quite good at that." He motioned at himself. "I suppose you have to kill me as well."

"Yes," she said with a smile. "I'll make it quick." Her body jolted forward grossly as she felt a sharp pain pierce her chest. She looked down and saw the sword protruding from her breast.

"You better be quicker," Thera said coldly. She yanked the blade out, and Serin collapsed onto the floor, bleeding to death slowly. Thera stood over her, and granted the mercy of a quick death by severing Serin's head. She looked to Varen. "What happens now?"

"This was likely the start of their plan," he said. "We need to hurry."


End file.
